Now, many Americans prefer socialism over capitalism

Published: Friday, April 10, 2009, 11:35 [IST]

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New York, Apr 10 (ANI): The financial crisis has hit the United States hard, and media reports point out that the country is leaning toward socialism after the US government taking majority stake in banks, bossing around the auto industry, and floating the possibility of nationalized healthcare.

A new poll suggests that if there were merit to those arguments, many Americans wouldn't mind, the Daily News reported.

Only a slight majority of American adults believe capitalism is better than socialism, according to the latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey.

Asked whether capitalism or socialism is a better system, 53 percent of American adults cited capitalism, 20 percent said socialism and 27 percent said they weren't sure.

The question posed by Rasmussen did not define capitalism or socialism, which could skew the poll's results, but the findings appear to reflect the public's concerns about capitalism in the midst of a recession.

The poll of 1,000 adults nationwide, conducted on Monday and Tuesday, has a sampling error of plus or minus three percentage points.

According to the poll, adults over 40 strongly favour capitalism, while adults under 30 are essentially evenly divided.

Republicans by an 11 to 1 margin believe capitalism is superior to socialism, the poll found.

Democrats are much more closely divided, with 39 percent preferring capitalism and 30 percent backing socialism.

Investors by a 5-to-1 margin said capitalism is better than socialism. (ANI)